Vacuum-trap.



L. P. STRUNG 'L TRAP.'

APPLIUATON FILED GUT. 12,3,903

L. P. STRONG.

VACUUM TRAP.

PPLIUATIOH FILED 00T. 12, 190s.

-SHEET l.. il lwnwlliwn Ill Patented May L 2 f5 EE F hypllcetlon flied @listener l2, tQS. Serial No. 117,20,.

I 'o' dll 'whom it may concern:

Be it known tiret l, STRONG, a'cltx'zen oli the United States, resident 'ol Cleveland, county ol Cnychoge, and State operative difficulties, which so bi Ohio, have invented; e, nerT and useful Improvement in Vacuum-Traps, or which the following 1s e specifics-tion, the principle. 'of the invention being herein eirplained and the hest Inode in which l heve contemplated lsupplying that principi@ so as to' distinguish 4,it troni inventions.

`YVherever ofindeneine;y steam engines operntedvvith the condenser or any port of the piping or connections between the eondenser ond cylinder, situe-.ted ehove the vbottoni of the letter, there always ersten constant danger et sooner or leter seriously damaging or wrecking the engine, unless some means are provided for automatically removing the weter ot condensation the vacuum' system, so es to keep th line .free fromwoter before-:ind eter there .ouin

has been established. lt has only heen re cently recognized that o vnii-.freiner alittlculties inthe operation of condensing steam enginesl could he traced to the @euse `above explained, :intl several types .or vacuum traps have been devised, with the ohiect in view of thus automatically mining the water of condensation fr system. Traps operating under the conditions that obtain in such e' system, oneoui er various es ein aware have not been successfully overcome instructoresheretoiore put forth. With the'objeet, then', of providingw it 'venni-on trap that' will .successfully withstood the sudden changes in temperatures and sures that occur in o vacuum system. and one, the valve or which will :ilwsys be freely operable is Well es readily accessible should occasion demand, lf here devised the trap consisting of the ineens hereinafter fully described and. particularly pointed out in the claims. y i

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certoin reeel;- :insm embodying the invention, such dis` closed moons constituting, however, hut sev-- eral of the various mechai' l forros inv which the principle ot the invention .may be used.

ln seid annexed drevvingszwlligure l illustrates vthe instolletion of my improved vacuum tray. to drain e vacuum oil separetor; llig. 2 is. e vertical longitudinal seo tion oil the tra@ illustrated in Fig. l; Fig. 3 illustre-tes e detail of such trap, likewise 1n` mechanism, in thecond, of a bucket for the some purpose, such irst trop heingfdesigned to discharge into e lower level', so that, it will drain under simple atmospheric pressure, Whereas the second trap' is designed to discharge to e higher level, there fore requiring utihnzition of :i pressure, preferably of steam, greater ,than atmospheric. Such additional pressure it Will he understood is also sometimes employed even Where the discharge could he eccted by gravity, in order to. increase the rete of clischarge, and consequently the capacity of the trap.

ln the typical installation illustrated in Fig. l where A designates a vacuum oil separator yinterposed in e vacuum line A, the inlet of the trap B is connected with the discharge of such separator by o pipe. o

in which is included e check, valve a that which, however, operates rovei'sely, permit,

ting the traps contents'. to escape but preventing any beck flow. Connected directly with the vacuum line itself,.is another simi-- ler pipe or duct a2 that leads to the valve casing C of thetrop, the connection of such duct with t'hc interior of the trop being more ullydiscloscd in the several sectional views `et the two forms ofi trap.

Noting the irst of these .forms (Figs. 2 und 3) which, as has been stated, utilizes u ball lloret os'the operative elcinent, the valve casing C will he seen to comprise in effect tv/o chambers c c?, `the first of which is adapted to communicate directly with the traps interior, the. other to communicate therewith through a duct c in the casing as shown. Communication in each instance, however, may be cut ott by ball valves c3 and c4 fitted to corresponding valve seats c5 and c in the respective passages, such valves resting normally freely on their seats. Those portions C C2 of the casing C inclos- .ing the valves are made separately removfrom, vertically reeiprocable plungers b 712- suitably held in bushings cs c9 in-the casing C are provided, the lower ends of such plunfers being respectively connected by means of links b3 b4 with a lever b transversely disposed thereto, and pivoted to an arme10 depending trom the casing. Such links being attached to the lever at points lying on opposite sides of the t'ulcrum thus provided, will obviously be oppositely actuated by movement of the lever. This movement is derived from the ball float B through another link b5 connecting one end of the lever b with ythe pivoted stemb6 of the fioat.

Having th-us described the construction of the trap, its mode of operation should be readily apparent. In the position ot' rparts illustrated in Fig. 2, the'trap is shown asv discharging; discharge valve a4 is hence open, and inlet valve closed, while of the two control valves, the one c* in the duet communicating with the vacuum line is closed, while the one e leading to the atmosphere is open. The pressure of the atmosphere, it will be seen, serves both to close the inlet valve u, and to retain control valve cL on its se'at. sure thus exerted upon the control valve in q uestion, the ball float will not follow at once the falng level of the liquid within the trap, but will sink only when the weight ot' the portion o'lI the lloat above the water multiplied-by the leverage obtained through its connection with the valve is sullicient to overcome the dillerence between the atmo.- pheric and vacuum pressures, duc regard being had to the area ot' the valve seat.. \Vhen it docs tinallydrop, the movement will, of course, be a sudden one, owing to the pressures on both sides ot the valve being equalized so that the control valve e is instantly removed `from its seat and the coinpanion valve seated.

By reason of the pres' rl`he situation is now reversed, tor, the vacuum line being connected with the interior of the trap, the outlet valve is caused to close and the inlet valve permitted again to open, so that liquid from the separator A or other like device, can freely enter thetrap. The liquid level within the trap accordingly now rises, but such rise will be inetective to raise the atmospheric control valve 03 until the buoyant action of the float is su'l'lieient to overcome the disparity in pressures, whereupon the saine sudden actuation ot' the two control valves agaiu takes place. The level of liquid illustrated in Fig. 2 is that at which the rst operation vjust described, is designed to take place., while the line .fe-w illustrates the level that will be reached bet'ore the ball tioat becomes effective to lift the atmospheric valve. Fig. 3 shows the changed position ot the control valves in theJ second operative stage above described:

ln the modified construction illustrated in Fig. et., a bucket B2 is utilized as the actuating element, instead of a ball float, as has been explained, and accordingly the discharge from the trap requires to be dill'erently disposed. Such discharge consists in fact, in a tube o7 that extends well into the bottom ot' such bucket. The plungers L2 for actuating the control valves are preterably directly connected with the bucket', one within and the other without, so as to be on opposite sides of its t'ulcrum point o. Separate casinos C3 C4, moreover are preferably provided or each of the valves corresponding with the removable casing portions C' C: ot' the previous structure; and the .chambers o 1", that correspond with chambers e c2, are formed directly in the trap cas,

ing. Of these chambers the one b, instead ot' opening to the air, is connected with a source of pressure supply, gene ally steam, by a pipe b so that the disparity between the two pressuresl that are alternately provided within the trap is considerably increased. By means ot' the greater pressure thus secured, the contents of the trap upon being discharged therefrom, may be raised to a corresponding higher level, as will be.y

understood, and itis chieiy because of this high pressure that it is desirable to employ a bucket, since a hollow float might be crushed under the load and change in temperature. l

rlhe operation ot the second form ot trap should not require separate explanation, since it follows exactly that ot the preceding form, in so far as the control valves are actuated by the changing liquid-level in the trap. The level shown in Fig. 4- is intended to represent the low water line.

It: will be evident in view ot' what has been said above that a highly advantageous eti'ect is secured by hindering, as it were,

the inoveuient it iy the difference in the two or hollow hall, l yvestiaires' employ d iu connection With the trate more than the one installation of the g vthe inode of connecting it to drain the exhaust lines of condensing engines, to feed iva-ter heaters situated between the engine and condenser, or the like, Will be readily understandable therefrom. It, likewise, is scarcely necessary to re'niarlt that the hereiii described apparatus can be used not only for dischergingWater from a vacuum or partial vacuum against atinosphericpressure, but by 'a suitable arrangement or" the check valves on 'the inlet and discharge pipes,-

n 'be adapted to discharge Water or other 3liep, vacuum or partial vacuum exists.

@ther modes of applying the principle'of my invention may' be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated any of the tolloiviiig claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed,

l ther-ettore particularly point out and disv tinctly claim as my invention A vacuum trap' comprising a casing having a iiquid inlet and discharge, vacuum yand pressure connections with the -casing interior, outwardly opening control valves in said connections, respectively, the pressure tending to close said valves, and means operated by changing liquidlevel in said casing to alternately open said valves.

A vacuum trap comprising a casing' having a liquid inlet and discharge, vacuum pressure connections with the casing ined to pressure tending to seat said valves, and

control said connections, respectively,

,s operated by changing liquid-level in d casing to alternately raise said valves fr their llivacuuin trap comprising a casing liquid inlet and discharge, vacuum connections with the casing inv l adapted to control said elves respectively, the pressure tendrr valves, i'eciprocahle pluni; to engage the latter to raise o the float, Whether bucket d into a receptacle wherein aY i, outwardly opening Dall valves adaptated by changing liquid level in said casi-ng and connected to reciprocate said plungers.

in opposite directions.

el. A vacuum trap comprising' a casing having a liquid inlet and discharge, vacuum and pressure connections with the casing iii terior, ball valves adapted to control said connections, respectively, the pressure tend ing to seat said valves, reciprocahle plu1igers adapted to engage the latter to raise them from their seats, andtloat means operated by changing liquid level in' said casing and connected` to reciprocate said plungers in opposite directions, the plunger for raising the vacuum control valve being thus actuated upon such liquid-level falling and tlie other plunger upon such level rising.

5. A vacuumgtrap comprising a casing having a liquid inlet and'discharge, vacuum and atmospheric connections With the casing interior, ball valves adapted to control said connections, respectively, the atmospheric pressure tending to seat -said valves, plungcrs adapted to engage 4the lat-ter to raise the same from their seats, and float means operated by changing liquid-level ii1 levers fulcrum, the plunger for raising the' vacuum control valve being thus actuated upon sucli liquid-levell falling and the other plunger upon such level rising.

6. A vacuum trap comprising a casing having a liquid 'inlet and discharge, vacuum and atmospheric connections with the casinginterrier, ballyalves adapted to control said connections, the atmospheric pressure tending to seat said valves, plungers adapted to engage the latter to raise the same from their seats, a lever disposed transversely of said plungers and pivoted intermediately of its ends, links connecting such ends with said plungers, respectively, a ball float with a stem pivotally mounted Within the trap4 casing, and a' linlt connecting said float v stem with said lever, so as' to actuate the proper plunger to raise the vacuum controlvalve upon the liquid-level in the casing falling'and the other plunger upon such level rising.

7. A vacuum trap lcomprising a casing having a' liquid inlet and discharge, a supplementary casing provided with passages leading into the interior of said trap-casing and respectively connected with the vacuum line-.and opening into the atmosphere, said supplementary casing comprising removable caps" including portions of said passages, valve seats in said passages dis osed to be uncovered upon removal ot sai( caps, ball valves within said caps iitted to said seats, plungers adapted to engage said Avalves to raise the saine from their seats, a lever disiis posed transversely of sa plmgers and pivoted ntern'ledntely of its fands, links connecting such ends with said plunge's, lo speclvely, a ball float with a stem pix/@tally mounted Within the tmp casing, and a link .connectimY said float stem with said level; H l

so as to :ltunc the proper punger to raise the vacuum contxo Valve Yupon th lqudf level the casing falling and the other plunger upon such level rlslng.

' LESLIE P. STRONG. ilosted bjf- @magnum ARNS,

l E I l I l JNO. i?. OBERLN.

1o Sig-ned by me, this 9th day of October, 

